Our Deeds Have Surrounded Us

 Let's face the reality of our situation in life. We can't get away from our deeds. We are the sum of the things we have done and said. We have done good things, and we have done bad things. The people who know us base their perception of who we are based on the deeds they know. The same is true of God, except that He knows all of our deeds. This should cause us stop and soberly assess our situation.

God revealed this reality to Hosea. He told Hosea that the people of Israel were not considering in their hearts that He remembered all of their wickedness. So now all of their deeds were surrounding them, as they stood before His face. (Hosea 7:2) That is a fantastic word picture for us to see. They were appealing to God to help them, but they were forgetting to turn from their wickedness. They thought God didn't see all of those things, but He always does. He couldn't help them until they turned form their wickedness.

Yes, I know that when God forgives our sins in salvation, He removes them from us as far as the east is from the west. He pronounces us righteous before Him, and we can approach His throne any time. However, the Bible also says that when we sin after salvation, we need to confess those sins, and then, God will cleanse them so they don't affect our relationship with Him. Therefore, our unconfessed sins do not keep us from going to heaven, but they do keep us from being close to the Lord.

That is why I see this verse as so applicable to us, as believers, today. Yes, we are God's children, and we can approach His throne to ask Him for what we need. However, if we have unconfessed sins, wickedness, those sins are surrounding us. God has not forgotten them yet, so why would He give us what we are asking for? We are not being serious about our sins. God sees that, instead of us being clean and pure the way we should be. Therefore, please, remember to confess your sins before you go before the Lord. It will make a huge difference.

#NHBaptistdotorg

Tomorrow, I intend to read Hosea 10-12.